The cyber-attack comes after the university told 2,700 staff that they are at risk of redundancy – more than a third of its workforce – as it responds to “changing sector demands” which are causing “financial challenges”.
It confirmed it was proposing to cut 609 of its 7,363 full-time equivalent roles over the next three years.
In response, staff began a boycott of marking and assessments.
The University and College Union (UCU) said the action would “effectively block the university from handing out graduation certificates”.
One of those affected, Abigail Maguire, told the BBC of her fears over plans to use her earlier grades to arrive at her final degree grade, which she says will not reflect her final-year work for which she has been averaging first-class scores.
Maguire said her brother had died before she enrolled at the university, but the loss had created a lasting impact.
“I was struggling with certain traumatic findings from his death, [and] I was also surpassing him in age at that time, which was also really difficult,” she said.
“I was also dealing with physical health problems, and it severely affected my course and my grades, so I appealed to the university and explained my situation.
“They didn’t give me a choice, they didn’t give me an opportunity to take the exams when I was in a better state of mind… I passed, but just about, and they said ‘just do better in your third year’.
“I worked really hard in my third year, I managed to average for a first, so that makes up for the lost marks in my second year, and now all of that could just be overridden, and just worthless.”